Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic has sent Liverpool a message over their Premier League title defence.
Back in June, the Reds clinched their first League Championship for 30 years to move within one of their old foes from Old Trafford on the all-time list (20-19).
Having won 26 of their first 27 matches, Liverpool ended up securing the title with a record-breaking seven games to spare and although they understandably subsequently took their foot off the pedal, they still finished 18 points clear of nearest challengers Manchester City and 33 points above United.
Matic, who twice won the Premier League with previous club Chelsea, admits that Liverpool’s rivals can’t allow them to be so dominant again.
The Serbian international midfielder told the UTD podcast : “From the next season there is no excuse.
“We have to go with everything. We have to fight for the title because I felt that this year we dropped some points too easy.
“We allowed Liverpool to win [the title], I don’t know, ten games before the season finished.
“They won the league, so we cannot allow that. We need to fight to the end.
“We have to play with more confidence, with more responsibility.”
United haven’t won the Premier League since legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson retired after clinching his 13th title in 2013 but although David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all failed since, Matic insists he’s determined to be a champion again while at the club.
He added: “My personal target is to win the league with United and I am sure that everyone wants to do the same.
“We have to promise our supporters that we will do our best - exactly what we have done after [the coronavirus lockdown] when we started to play again. That’s Manchester United.
“We have to win five, six consecutive games then you can drop some points, then again you have to do that run. Like that we can win the league.
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“In the beginning of the season we were not stable, we won one or two games then we lost and we drew.
“Proper United is exactly what we did after [lockdown] and I hope we can continue like that next season.”
- How close do you think next season's title race will be and who do yo think will be Liverpool's biggest challengers? Let us know in the comments section below.
